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In yesterday’s RANT, I posted testimony given by John Lear – one of the most decorated pilots in American history – that the “official” 9/11 account is fraudulent. A man with no axe to grind, with four decades of commercial, cargo, and military flight experience, broke down the silly notion of untrained amateurs pulling off such Herculean tasks piece by piece, in simple language that any pilot would understand. I have spent ten years analyzing 9/11 data to understand what happened, and although nothing can be definitively concluded, I have some pretty well-REASONED assumptions, which following this testimony became vastly more credible.

I sent this article to a handful of people in my “inner circle,” including my mother. Mom is 69 years old, one of the most intelligent people I know, and in most aspects of life, a pragmatist. She loves to engage in deep discussions of a plethora of complex topics, but has an obvious blind spot for anything related to the U.S. government.

For instance, although she does not rely on the government for healthcare, she supports Obama-care on the flawed premise that “everyone” should have coverage. Such a misguided view ignores the FACT that many of the newly insured are illegal aliens or deadbeats gaming the system, or the PINK ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM – the government has NO MONEY to pay for it. I won’t even go into other “unforeseen consequences” of such a program, such as less doctors; higher inflation; the moral hazard of promising “something for nothing;” the immoral, unconstitutional practice of forcing individuals to buy insurance; and charging the hopelessly incompetent, bureaucratic government to make “life or death” decisions.

She also supported the Iraq war, blindly believing Bush’s garbage about Weapons of Mass Destruction. Not that I can blame her, as 95% of the population (BUT NOT ME!) was ready to bomb Mars to achieve revenge on the “terrorists.” Unfortunately, many “Baby Boomers” have a misguided belief that we are back in the 1940s, when American idealism soared and government’s intentions were far more altruistic – in other words, when America still resembled that of its Founding Fathers (although a skeptic like me would argue that the seeds of its demise had already been sowed).

In response to my Lear testimony email – in which I added ZERO additional commentary, my mother’s response was, “I know what happened on 9/11, and I don’t accept any other conspiracy theories.”

There is nothing surprising about her response, consistent with how she has always viewed the world. It was a major struggle to get her to shift one-third of her portfolio into Precious Metals, for example, but she still views the decision begrudgingly, even though it has been decidedly correct one. And based what I have written above, that skepticism will likely NEVER abate.

The fact is, my mother – and millions of “children of the Depression” – experienced difficult childhoods. Stories of their parents’ struggles with poverty, immigration – and in my family’s case, anti-Semitism – ring close to home, and in my mother’s case, way too close. At 69, she looks back at where she came from – and how she successfully emerged from it – and thus, feels gratitude to her nation. Not that the U.S. government was responsible for her success – intelligence, charm, and luck were the key elements – but she thrived under its auspices, thus unwilling to accept negative feedback, no matter how OBVIOUS.

The reason I brought my mother into this is to highlight the mentality of much of the nation’s (and world’s) population. For those without the means to PROTECT THEMSELVES, or living off government handouts – it is no use trying to convey my message. They will NEVER listen to “conspiracy theories” because there is NOTHING they can do about it. The safest route is to ignore them and continue to collect food stamps, receive Medicaid, and vote for Bush, Obama, or whichever politician offers them the most “free stuff.” These people can best be characterized as “ASSUMING THE WORST, BUT DOING NOTHING ABOUT IT.”

As for my mother’s generation, for the aforementioned reasons – especially those with material retirement savings – they, too, will assume “all’s well.” The ramifications of their decisions may negatively impact their heirs – by not PROTECTING them against inflation – but their own lives will be relatively unaffected. This group can best be characterized as “ASSUMING THE BEST, AND NOT WORRYING AT ALL.”

The nation’s youth are in the most precarious position of all, born into a society engulfed in social, economic, and political decline. In China, many new jobs are created each month, but so are many new people, whereas in the U.S., no new jobs are created at all. The Chinese society, thus, may have issues with job competition, but a far worse scenario involves the lack of HOPE experienced in the States. Not only that, American youth are burdened with more than $1 trillion of non-dischargable student loans, saddling them with “debt serfdom” before they work a single day. This group is very amenable to learning the TRUTH, but unfortunately do not have the resources to PROTECT THEMSELVES. Thus, America’s youth can best be characterized as “ASSUMING THE WORST, AND DESPERATE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.”

Thus far, I have accounted for the young, the old, and the poor, which cumulatively account for more than half the population. Of the remainder, many are not characterized as “poor,” but in living paycheck to paycheck, and/or in deep debt, also do not possess the means to PROTECT THEMSELVES. I’d estimate another quarter of the population fits this description, and for the intent of this analysis, would likely be categorized in one of the three aforementioned groups.

That leaves less than a quarter of the population, those with both the means to take precautions and the will to buck years of social and political dogma in the search of TRUTH. These are the people I target with my writings, the “less than 25%” with the ability to save themselves. I have been writing RANTS since 2005 (or earlier equivalents thereof) to this group, and hopefully I’ve helped a few people to think more freely. Since joining Miles Franklin last year, my audience has grown larger, and simply via “word of mouth” I’m hoping to expand my band of “refugees” further. We are all in this together, so please do your best to spread the word of PROTECTION to as many open-minded people as possible, in the little time we have remaining.

Even my mother would tell me to “ASSUME THE WORST, AND HOPE FOR THE BEST,” as she is smart enough to realize uncertainty poses the greatest danger to our future well-being. Thankfully, she will survive what is coming due to her savings and older age, but the majority of the population is neither “old” nor “rich.” Remember, “ASSUMING THE WORST” doesn’t necessarily entail the purchase of PHYSICAL gold and silver – although, of course, this is the best way to preserve your wealth. What it does mean – in its simplest form – is considering the potential of a “worst-case scenario” occurring, and as such, taking steps to survive such a situation.